Malcolm Arnold

Four Cornish Dances for Orchestra Op.91

Malcolm Arnold Four Cornish Dances The Cornish people have a highly developed sense of humour. Many are sea-faring folk, and it is a land of male voice choirs, brass bands, Methodism, May Days, and Moody and Sankey hymns. The Cornish, despite, or even because of, their great sense of independence have been ruthlessly exploited. The deserted engine houses of the tin and copper mines bear silent witness to this, and these ruins radiate a strange and sad beauty. I hope some of these things are present in this music, which is Cornish through the eyes of a “furrener”. Malcolm Arnold

Arnold has in the new work invoked traditional rhythms but again the musical matter is his own. The second of the dances has a misty and reflective character but the other three are vintage boisterous Arnold, vividly illustrating his gift for bouncy rhythms and fine melodies, and his massive sense of fun. Darrell Jones, Chronicle and Echo, 15 August 1966

Instrumentation: picc.2.2.2.2 - 4331 - timp - perc(2): t.bells/cyms/tam-t/vib/BD/susp.cym/tamb/SD/TD - harp - strings